Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

Results tagged ‘ Mike Lowell ’

Good news on the injury front today. Tim Wakefield will pitch on the road at Gwinnett County for Triple-A Pawtucket. He should come back into the rotation right after that, meaning he could start as early as Aug. 20 at Toronto, or perhaps at home against the Yankees over the weekend.

Dice-K also took a positive step today, throwing his first bullpen since going on the DL. Matsuzaka will throw again on Friday, and then on Monday, and presumably start facing hitters after that.

Mike Lowell is not in tonight’s lineup, as he is the odd man out a second night in a row.

A different kind of Sunday morning in the Red Sox clubhouse today, as Frank Sinatra’s legendary voice replaced the usual mix of country, rap and hip hop. Good stuff, though some players — particularly Kevin Youkilis — seemed perplexed by the choice.

In actual baseball news, not a whole lot going on. Jacoby Ellsbury, who likely didn’t eat much beyond soup and jello this weekend in his rehab from intestinal turmoil, is back in the lineup, batting sixth.

In lineup news, Kevin Youkilis moved over to third for the day, as Mark Kotsay — the brains behind the Sinatra selection — got the start at first. Mike Lowell and Jed Lowrie got the day off, but you could see one or both off the bench.

Roy Halladay liftime against the Red Sox: 12-12, 4.46 ERA. How is that possible? Don’t all of you feel like we’ve watched this guy throw a ton of gems against Boston?

SS Julio Lugo has been designated for assignment, ending his disappointing two and a half year run with the Red Sox.

Not really a surprise, and the only mystery now is if Lugo will be traded — with the Red Sox picking up most of the $13.5 million left on his contract — or just give him his outright release.

Mike Lowell is expected to be back on the roster tonight, playing third base. Shortstop Jed Lowrie will arrive tomorrow and it will be interesting to see how the playing time gets distributed between he and Green.

And, of course, there is the spectacle tonight of Clay Buchholz making his first start of the season in what is expected to be a one and done assignment.

Sorry guys and gals, I did not make the trip to the land of the crab cakes. I’m home in Boston for some downtime. Figured I’d check in because a little birdie told me a new thread would be helpful for commenting purposes.

It looks from afar like Terry Francona has not lost his touch. A little lineup tweak and J.D. Drew, batting leadoff tonight with Dustin Pedroia to the two-hole, is in the midst of a big night.

Jon Lester putting up zeroes yet again.

I think John Smoltz’s start tomorrow night will be far more telling than the one against the Nats the other night when he had what I’m sure was an overpowering combination of rust, adrenaline and nerves.

As for Mike Lowell, the news seems good. Just the fact that they were able to drain all that fluid before the shot shows you there was cause to all the discomfort he has had of late. Best case scenario, Lowell returns to the lineup on Friday night at Fenway. Worst Case scenario, they put him on the DL and he returns for the first game after the All-Star break.

Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell was out of the lineup for the fourth time in the last six games on Friday night. You might not see Lowell at all this weekend as a starter. The tightness in his hip is lingering, and Lowell expects he will get a synvisc shot in his right hip early next week, perhaps by Monday.

The good news about a synvisc shot is that it only requires about a 24-hour recovery period.

There is no Jacoby Ellsbury tonight. The center fielder banged up his right elbow crashing into the wall in Josh Bard’s double Thursday night. Kotsay is playing center. Ellsbury expects to be back in the lineup on Saturday.

When the spring started, two of the biggest question marks from a health standpoint were MikeLowell and Rocco Baldelli. Lowell, of course, coming off hip surgery. And Baldelli dealing with channelopathy, which causes excessive muscle fatigue.

Both players essentially gave themselves clean bills of health heading into 2009.

Lowell is especially enthusiastic with one week left before Opening Day.

“I feel fine,” said Lowell. “I’m
actually further along than what I thought I’d be in a sense of, I thought this
week was going to be a final test of me bouncing back but I answered that a
week or 10 days ago. I’m really not worried aboutthe season at all from the surgery
standpoint. I’m really happy. I’m actually ready to get out of here. It’s been
a long spring.”

As for Rocco, he belted a home run to left, his second in his last two games.

“I mean, I feel
alright. I could always be seeing the ball better, making more hard contact
consistently,” said Baldelli. “But I feel pretty good, and I’m happy with how Spring Training is
going so far.”

It speaks volumes that Baldelli is speaking more about specific baseball adjustments than his health.

“I would have been
very pleased to come in and just get on the field consistently, and just get in
some kind of baseball shape, and I think I have, and I feel good,” said Baldelli.

More from Fort Myers on Tuesday, when Clay Buchholz pitches against the Rays. Speaking of that, it really is starting to feel like Buchholz will make that April 12 start in Anaheim — and perhaps even another start after that — before Brad Penny takes that spot. The Red Sox have made no such announcement yet, but I’m starting to get that feeling. We’ll find out soon if I’m right. There’s no doubt about this — Buchholz has earned that start or two.

Not sure what happened to Julio Lugo, but he left the game with some sort of right knee injury. This after a half inning of defense.

Speaking of defense, Mike Lowell has made a successful return to third base. Not only did he start a 5-4-3 double play in the first, but he just pummeled a towering home run to left.

David Ortiz is back in the No. 3 hole for the Sox tonight after his surprisingly abbreviated trip to the World Baseball Classic. And, oh by the way, he unloaded for his first homer of the spring, a drive into the RF seats to cap a seven-run second inning off Chien-Ming Wang.

Are the folks back in the Dominican still shocked at two straight losses to the Netherlands? Ortiz couldn’t even believe the question. Of course they are shocked!

“What do you
think? It’s only been a few days,” Ortiz said.

For folks in the Dominican Republic, the World Baseball Classic is not just some exhibition showcase event, it is a matter of national baseball pride. So yes, the loss to a team that hardly any Major Leaguers was extremely tough to swallow.

As much as folks in the Dominican value the event, Ortiz has a feeling that he won’t be participating in the 2013 Classic, at which time he’ll be 37 years old.

“I’d have to think
about it but I don’t think I will,” Ortiz said. “That’s going to be another four years and by
that time, I don’t think I’m going to be thinking about that anymore. I’ve
already done it twice so people won’t complain about it back home. I’ve done it
already. I’ll just have somebody do it.”

In a candid moment in front of his locker, Ortiz said that it is easier to get in a routine and get prepared for a season in Spring Training camp rather than at the Classic.

“In my situation,
coming back here gives you a better chance to get ready than being out there
every day,” Ortiz said. “You don’t get to play every day, and on top of that, there are places
you go where you don’t have that much time to get our work in.

“One way or
another, that kind of affects you. The first time [in 2006, you had more time at the
field and things like that. I’m the kind of guy, I’ve got to do some extra
stuff to get ready. I’m pretty sure that all the guys are pretty much the same
way.”

“It’s not like I wanted
us to lose, but we already lost so …

“I’m happy to be
back and get ready,” Ortiz said.

George Kottaras is catching Tim Wakefield, but I still think Josh Bard is the heavy favorite to win that job.

Great to see NESN’s Jerry Remy back in the booth tonight. Terry Francona gave Remy a big, enthusiastic hug when he spotted him in the dugout during pre-game. This was Remy’s first game of Spring Training.

Remy returned to Fort Myers with his usual humor, telling his audience on NESN, “I would have been here sooner, but i had visa issues back in massachusetts and i couldn’t leave.”

Beautiful, absolute gorgeous night at City of Palms! I wish all of you were here.

There are some great matchups on tap at the World Baseball Classic this weekend.

Team USA is playing Puerto Rico on Saturday night in Miami. The upstart Netherlands plays Venezuela at 1 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. Dice-K takes the ball for Japan on Sunday against Cuba in a 4 p.m. ET tilt.

Yes, Terry Francona did say before the game that “Mikey is going to get two at-bats today and DH.”

As it turns out, Lowell wanted a chance to run out of the box, which he didn’t get while striking out and popping up in his first at-bats.

The final at-bat, taken in the bottom of the seventh inning was far more successful. Lowell watched a ball, then looked at a strike before raking a hard, clean, line single over the head of the shortstop and into center field.

Yes, Mike Lowell is in the Boston batting order for the first time since Game 3 of last October’s Division Series against the Angels. He will be batting fifth, serving as the DH.

Last time we all saw Lowell play a game, he was hobbled, and a shell of his normal self.

I’ll give you pitch-by-pitch updates of Lowell’s at-bats for those of you who can’t watch live.

Also, I’ll fill you in on Clay Buchholz‘s start and any other interesting happenings of the game.

Looking for a Mr. Camp? The early nominee is Nick Green. The 29-year-old veteran journeyman — who has 275 games of Major League experience and a lot of service time in the Minor Leagues — is hitting .478 with two homers and five RBIs over 23 at-bats.

Unfortunately for Green, it’s hard to imagine a roster spot will be open to him unless there is a trade of a certain veteran shortstop, which is highly unlikely.

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